To Heal Together
by Fawn of the woods
Summary: After the Credits for Patterns of Force. Established McSpock (no need to read previous stories). During their capture both Kirk and Spock were whipped. McCoy must heal his mate and himself then show Spock that healing can happen together.


After the Credits for Patterns of Force. Established McSpock (no need to read previous stories). During their capture both Kirk and Spock were whipped. McCoy must heal his mate and himself then show Spock that healing can happen together. The only violence in here is what was in the episode. My next installment in my McSpock stories. Could be read on its own as long as you remember that Spock and McCoy are mates

 **To Heal Together**

Crash! The nurse squeaked as the sound echoed through the open door of the doctor's office. Glancing at the door uneasily, she swallowed. She'd only been on the ship a few weeks and already she wasn't sure she would last under this Doctor. He was scary.

"Its okay, Jeanette." She turned to see Nurse Chapel, the head nurse and the savior of the rest of the medical staff. Nurse Chapel was amazing, not just because she was an excellent nurse and psychologist, but because she could handle the Senior Staff of this ship so well. Including, thankfully, the CMO.

"Why don't you go and take your break. I'll see if I can't talk him down." Jean glanced at the door worriedly as the woman went inside.

Christine wasn't surprised to see the mess the office was in. With the noise Dr McCoy was making, she was expecting broken furniture. Right now the only actual damage appeared to be a few glasses and what was probably once a statue or a paper weight, or both. She was also not surprised to see her CMO sitting on the cot in the corner with his head in his hands.

Sighing softly to herself, she made her way over to him, picking up the room as she went. She had known he'd be grouchy when she saw their captain's back. When she heard that not only did Mr Spock have similar injuries, but also that he didn't feel it necessary to report to sick bay until the end of his shift, she knew her boss would be completely unreasonable. They were to stay in orbit another three hours while they collected all possible information on the interference in the society below. Mr Spock's shift didn't end for another hour and really Dr McCoy couldn't call these injuries a medical emergency to get him down here.

Intellectually, Christine understood Mr Spock's reasoning. It had taken them nearly a half hour to remove the Captain's shirt as the blood had dried it to his back. Eventually the Captain had lost patience and stepped away from them to rip it off. The pain had made him so dizzy he nearly fell over, though he did remain silent past a small groan. Although Dr McCoy had given his a crass and exasperated scolding for that move, Christine had seen his face pale at the pain his friend under went. If Mr Spock were here when he should be on duty he'd be even further impatient and that was why Dr McCoy hadn't forced his down here quite yet. Seeing his best friend in pain was terrible, seeing his mate in pain was bound to be worse.

This also gave the good doctor time to calm himself before he had to trade quips with their rather sarcastic first officer. Mr Spock's dry sense of humor became rather sharp when in pain. Right now, she didn't think her CMO could trade them so glibly.

"How bad did I scare them?" She glanced over at her boss at his soft question.

"Jean was the only new nurse left and Mark is a veteran enough to scoot when you went into your office." He sighed.

"Damn. I'll talk to Jean tomorrow. She's got to be terrified of me now." His soft worried voice nearly broken her heart. He cared so much about his staff.

"Well you certainly have made a mess. I'm not even sure what this statue was." She placed the larger pieces of the stone figurine in the trash bin. He chuckled wryly.

"I don't remember either." She continued picking up the books and padds scattered around the office. He rubbed his face wearily. "I need a drink." She eyed him.

"We both know you'll never drink enough for it to help." He sighed and glanced at the floor.

"Maybe I could this once." She scoffed at his rebellious mutter.

"Doctor McCoy, as long as you are CMO of this vessel you will never allow yourself to drink so much you couldn't perform basic surgery, even with Dr M'Benga on board." He eyed her balefully.

"I'm not that much of a fuddy-duddy!"

She snorted, "You care too much for you patients to ever risk being drunk when they need a doctor. Even Mr Scott can't convince you otherwise." She grinned as Dr McCoy grumbled under his breath.

"Spock would never let me live it down anyway." He looked around. "I should clean up, he'll be here in less than an hour and I don't want him to worry. He has enough on his plate right now." He got up and started clearing the discs from the floor, finishing what Christine had already started.

"Doctor, Perhaps you could go rest. We can call you when Mr Spock comes down." She watched him carefully as he prowled round the room cleaning.

He shook his head. "Nah, I want to be here in case someone comes in for a Doctor. Besides, without me here, he may 'forget' to stop by. You know our Vulcan." Christine smiled at the return of the Doctor's sense of humor and nodded.

Around the corner a young nurse slowly removed her hand from her mouth. She had been worried working for Doctor McCoy because he seemed so mean and rude, but in reality, he was only that way because he cared too much for his patients and staff. Jean smiled softly and nodded to herself before slipping out of the infirmary.

She was glad she was on the enterprise.

000

Christine watched as Mr Spock's shift ended and the next started. As the science officer failed to appear, Dr McCoy became increasingly agitated.

"Sick Bay to Bridge." She sighed and hoped this wouldn't turn into a shouting match over that intercom.

"Bridge, Kirk here." He growled at the comm.

"Is that green-blooded elf you call a first officer up there with you?" Christine hid her smile. Even as irritated as the Doctor was, she still could hear the fondness in that slew of nicknames.

"Doctor I am currently running a series of complicated tests on a specime-"

"Spock! You get your skinny Vulcan tail down here in the next five minutes or else!" Christine could almost hear the eyebrow raise over the comm. Vaguely she wondered whether he'd comment on the 'or else' or the…

"Doctor,you of all people should be fully aware that Vulcans do not have tails." …tail comment. She watched in amusement, along with Jean and Mark as their CMO gritted his teeth and smirked at the comm.

"actually you do, it's four bones long, which is one more than humans have. Now get those four bones and all that they're attached to down here!" Christine waved at the two nurses to take off. Aside from their shift being nearly over, Mr Spock would be much more cooperative without an audience.

"Doctor, I shall be down as soon as I finish this analysis. Spock out." She swore she could hear Dr McCoy's teeth grit from over here. Then he grinned and winked at Christine.

"Jim, you know that meat-like vegetable called tofu. Sometimes the CMO assigns it to someone's diet when they haven't been eating enough meat. My mentor once assigned it as the only food in a crewmate's diet for four days." Christine hide her mouth as a giggle tried to escape. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Spock's voice interrupted him.

"Three point two six minutes Doctor."

Dr McCoy chirped happily at he comm after that. "See ya soon."

000

Leonard watched as Christine placed a bowl of gel and warm water next to the bed. He was going to need them both for the stubborn Vulcan who was just now walking through his door. He hated practically blackmailing Spock down here, but the longer they wait the worse this will be and if they waited too long infection could set in. Then it really would be a medical emergency. He always liked to limit his medical emergencies when possible. They wore him out.

He could see by the set of Spock's shoulders the Vulcan was in pain. The fact that his hands were clenched by his side was a good indicator as well. He wasn't sure that the pain was what made Spock flinch away from his touch though.

"Up you go, lets get this blasted uniform off." He saw the minute grimace cross Spock's stoic features and heaved a sigh. "Nurse, run along and prepare the antibiotic before you head to dinner." It was a dismissal and they all knew it. Christine nodded to them both before ducking out of the infirmary. Leonard turned back to see Spock slowly unbuttoning the jacket he still wore. He gingerly started to slip it off. Leonard helped him and took the jacket away. He turned back to see the white undershirt stained in green.

"Spock, you were still bleeding heavily when you put this shirt on!" It wasn't a question, but Spock seemed to treat it as such.

"Yes Doctor. Time was of the essence." Leonard shook his head took out the scissors. Ignoring Spock's questioning eyebrow, he carefully cut along the side of the shirt, separating the front from the grass green back. He felt Spock's dark eyes watch him as he revealed the dark furred chest to his worried eyes. God, but he loved Spock's chest.

He saw those dark nipples tighten and harden under his gaze and felt a pleased blush rise on his neck. His mate liked him looking. Shaking that thought away and focusing on the man himself, he took note of the few marks on his shoulders that curved over the muscle towards the front and then raised his left arm. The injury in his inner arm where they had gouged out those mechanical transmitters looked to be infected. Whatever they had used hadn't been clean.

Placing a warm, wet wash cloth over the area, he waved the sterilizer over it, feeling the sudden tension in Spock's wrist in reaction to the slight sting. Picking up a swab he patted the elbow dry and then bandaged it to prevent further infection. Jim's had been infected as well. He also needed to remove the foreign blood. They hadn't cleaned the blood off the metal before using it again.

"Be kind of gentle with this for a few days. I'll wash it out again tomorrow morning." He rubbed his thumb along the slender forearm gently as he gave the soft advise. He knew he was prolonging letting Spock lay down. This procrastination wasn't his style and he firmly told himself to quit it. When he had seen Jim's back, he had given the Captain a quick jab about it stinging before working on it. He knew Jim worked better in those frivolous tones. He ranted about it later.

With Spock, it was different. He knew he wasn't going to see a combat wound, or a blow as Spock dashed for cover, like so many of his injuries. Nor was this a blow taken for Jim's sake, another common source of Spock's Doctor visits. These were multiple blows that Spock had been forced to stand there for, and watch helpless as they rained on Jim as well.

A finger lifted his chin to look into the dark eyes of his Vulcan lover. He felt the tingle of their bond on the fringe of his mind due to those fingers. __I am fine, T'hy'la__ _He grimaced. Leaning forward, Spock placed a gentle kiss on his tight lips. Slowly he let Spock's mouth relax his lips, coax them into responding._

 _ _You should have never gone through those barbarians' torture.__

 _ _The past is the past.__ _He opened his blue eyes to lock them on Spock's. This close he could see the brown ring in those dark orbs. He sighed and gave his mate a half smile._

"It'll be past when I finish healing your back." Spock hesitated only a moment before Leonard felt his agreement and he spun to lay on his stomach. Leonard smothered the reaction to gasp again at the sight of Spock very green back. He slowly picked up one of the soaking cloths and gently lay it on the back. He felt Spock tense as the gel hit his back before the numbing agent took effect.

He placed a hand on Spocks arm as he picked up his scanner. The tremors he felt racing down Spock's arm had him opening their link. The pain and trepidation that swarmed down the link worried him. However, the near panic that Spock felt when he realized Leonard was feeling his pain was even more troubling.

"Spock, I can take the pain. Please let me in." He felt Spock's quiet confusion, but the vulcan's grip on the bond loosened and Leonard felt the sting of Spock's back and the twitching of the muscles beneath. He needed to relax. This would be easier and less painful if the man relaxed his back muscles.

Leonard placed a hand on the side of Spock's head that was facing away from him and he frowned at the tremor that shook Spock's neck at the touch. Looking at Spock's back, the gel should have numbed the skin and surface muscles by now. He shouldn't be in any pain. Indeed, Leonard felt no pain through their bond, just the trepidation.

"Bohraya, Talk to me. I can feel something's wrong." He felt Spock take a firm hold of his emotions and banish them.

"I am fine, Doctor. Please continue with the treatment." Leonard growled and circled the bed until he faced the man.

"Yer not fine when I call you Bohraya and you still call me Doctor!" Leonard glared at the nearly vibrating Vulcan. Spock had to fight the impulse to get up. Leonard's eyes narrowed as he watched the struggle wage in Spock to stay on the bed and not get up.

"Bohraya, you are in no danger here." Spock jerked away from him, but the brief touch was enough for Leonard to confirm the feelings he was reading from the vulcan's stoic face. "The deeper your breaths the easier it will be, Spock." He watched, drawing on the steady, warm feeling he had when Spock held him at night and feeding that feeling to his distressed mate. Slowly he felt Spock calm and the tremors lessen.

"My apologies, Leonard." Leonard snorted slightly. He threaded his fingertips through the thin black hair. "I have very few pleasant memories from my childhood when lying on my stomach."

"Makes sense. Our bodies are naturally more vulnerable to attack from behind when lying like this." Spock closed his eyes as he agreed. "Me removing this shirt isn't going to be a pleasant memory either. Would you rather sit up?" Spock shook his head. Slowly his uninjured arm bent and the hand latched on to the Doctor's waist. Leonard instantly opened his mind to his mate and let the thoughts flow naturally, including his concern and care for the Vulcan. He drew on his reaction to Jim's injuries and the knowledge that Spock's were likely worse; the fond exasperation with his mate for trying to protect and assist their captain with little regard for his own well being.

Slowly, Leonard peeled the shirt away from the much abused back. Shivers and flinches raced under the skin like startled mice under a blanket. The whips were not terribly deep and the whip itself must have been mildly clean, for currently they were not terribly infected. Still, he swept the sterilizer over them in gentle, quick strokes, cleanse and disinfecting the tears in pale skin.

"Yer not due back on duty for eight hours and I'm off in a few minutes. These need to air." He felt more than saw Spock frown. "You can wear an infirmary shirt in the corridors, but once we make it to your quarters I'll clean your back again and it can air out."

"You do not need to leave your post. I can take care of myself." Leonard snorted as he placed the last of the shirt on the table next to him and started bottling the oil Christine had made.

"That, my mate, is a matter of opinion." He felt Spock's amusement as the Vulcan took a deep breath before attempting to rise. "Careful of your back. Jim gets testy when people track blood all over his ship."

He watched as Spock gingerly got up and put the lose infirmary shirt on, shuddering as the light material came in contact with his skin. Spock couldn't hold in the wince as the coarse material met his raw back. Leonard placed a gentle hand on his elbow.

"Bohraya, let me pamper you tonight." Spock felt his eyebrow go up at the request and finally closed hiseyes and nuzzled his mate's hair fondly.

"That is most acceptable."

000

Spock jerked awake, swallowing a yelp of pain as he rolled on his back. Glancing quickly at his bedmate, he relaxed noting the closed eyes. Christine had made a passing comment earlier that Leonard had been in the sick bay for nearly 15 hours by the time he had come to be treated and his T'hy'la needed his rest. His internal clock told him they had only been asleep 3.5 hours. Or rather, he'd only been asleep 3.5 hours. He wasn't entirely certain when his mate had joined him.

-4 hours ago-

Spock sighed as the heated air washed over his body and the door hissed shut behind him. His back ached terribly, the numbing agent Leonard had used was wearing off and though the wounds were mostly closed, they were by no means healed.

"Head to bed Bohraya." The hot whisper in his ear caught his attention away from his back to towards his mischievous mate. The human gave him a smirk and pulled him gently towards the sleeping area. Lassitude lapped at their connection through his hands and his mental barriers instinctively felt for manipulation in that telepathic contact.

"Spock?" He glanced at his mate, grateful for the fact that as a non-telepath, Leonard was unaware the reason for his mental probe. The human would've interpreted it as a lack of trust. All he felt from the doctor was mild confusion, the need to heal and relief at his presence. Leo wasn't trying to make him feel anything, simply create an atmosphere that would help. The subtle difference between the desire to assist and the intention to control allowed him to release any mental barriers he still had between them and simply allow his mate to tend to him.

His mate must have stopped by earlier, because he was certain he didn't place the table and its contents next to his bed. Leo pushed him to sitting on the bed and reached into a jar to remove a wet cloth. Wringing it out he placed it gently on the injured back and Spock felt warm water trickle down his shirt. Although a shudder at the feeling ran through him, his mate's lips on his distracted him. The slow, sultry assault was so different from the normal frantic pace set by his human that its tenderness stunned him.

His hands automatically rested on those thin hips straddling his waist and he released a sigh as a finger massaged under the hem of his shirt. Content joy swept through is body from his mate and he gripped the lithe body tighter. A tinge cause him to jerk away as the medical shirt was gently separated from his lower back. Leo's tongue swept his chin gently, as if to ease the hurt. Tiny nibbles worked their way up to his ear and blunt teeth closed on the tip of his ear with arousing results.

"Leo" Spock swallowed when that came out far more breathless than intended, "T'hy'la, What-?"

"Shh…" The croon in his ear dissolved his thoughts into a blissful place full of feeling and sensation and the emotional presence of the one being in the entire universe he trusted completely. Retaining just enough awareness to grip his mate to him, he gave himself over to the lips and tongue and teeth caressing his face, neck and ears.

Suddenly Leo leaned back slightly. The lack of contact was so abrupt that Spock leaned forward instinctively. Leo met their foreheads.

"Shhh, one moment Amazing." The low, rumble was strangely tender and Spock allowed them to part and he felt his shirt lift over his head. His eyes sprang open in surprise as the green stained blue shirt was tossed aside. He hadn't felt its removal. He looked at his grinning lover.

Leonard gently pulled him onto the bed and coaxed him onto his stomach. The same tension that had been in the infirmary flooded his being, but the constant contact with Leonard dulled its grip on him. A warm cloth was placed on his back and warm hands slowly massaged his left arm as the warmth sunk into his abused back. By the time Leonard had moved to his hands he was relaxing again. The other arm was massaged in much the same manner and the earlier lassitude was returning to Spock. Pausing briefly to replaced the cool towel with another warm one, Leonard moved to his legs. His pants had come off then he had lay on the bed, giving Leo complete access to his body.

He contented himself with the thoughts of those strong hands that could perform surgery and had work through catastrophes slowly easing his pain away. The intelligent light in those blue eyes, that was the result of years of passionate struggle and genuine hard work, was probably fixed with adoring determination on his body.

 _ _I love you__ _Spock didn't hear it the first few times but steadily, Leo's mental presence became steady enough that the words came through clearly. That thought, that idea rebounded throughout his being as he was swept up in feelings of safety and acceptance from his mate._

 _ _Sleep My Amazing Love__ _He slowly followed the advice and the comforting clouds of sleep cradled him as they hadn't since he was a small boy held by his mother._

At peace.

-3.5 hours later-

Spock ran his finger gently over his mate's face, taking care not to touch it, for that would awaken the doctor. It had only taken a week of sleeping with his mate to realize that Leonard McCoy awoke a the slightest disturbance. Especially when he was worried about something. Or someone.

Spock shifted his weight to his hip so that he'd be less likely to roll on his back again, which was the painful awake up he had just experienced. He stretched out next to his mate and prepared to watch the human sleep until the activity drew him to join in.

Usually watching his precious mate sleep was a rare pleasure he allowed himself. Leo's sleeping face was bereft the tension he carried like a cloak on the ship. Even relaxing with a drink or with Jim, the knowledge that he was the doctor to everyone he was near remained and he rarely let go of that knowledge, let alone the responsibility that it came with. But once asleep, Spock saw all that stress leave his face and in its place a content relaxation seemed to take hold.

Tonight, however, his mate was not relaxing at all. Vulcan's did not dream in the same sense humans do so Spock had had little experience with the phenomenon until Leo shared his bed. Although Leo had explained what a nightmare was, thus far Spock had only seen him experience benign imagery during his sleep. He wouldn't put it passed Leo to hide the rare unpleasant dream that might occur, but it had never occurred to the state that it had right now.

His mate was jerking, nearly crying out against some unseen force and his breathing was speeding up. Slowly, mindful of the upset that had flooded his mate's mind, he reached out and lay his hand on his mate's face. His intent had been to simply wake his mate, usually this touch was enough. He hadn't expected to be pulled into the nightmare.

He had experienced a few of Leonard's dreams as memories, but this was a singular experience. First he noticed was that everyone not in the direct view of the dream was distorted, twisted in a way that made his mind protest looking at it. Drawing himself towards his mate a dungeon appeared with bars. On one side was his mate, chained to the wall. On the other side stood himself, or rather the dream's version of himself. This was him as his mate's mind produced.

Dream-Spock was also chained and there was a masked man standing behind him. The crack as a whip fell on the already green back brought the cause of his mate's distress into focus.

"As soon as you say so, I'll switch to the human!" The words were mental more than verbal and it took a moment for Spock to process them. A moment later to realize the situation. Dream-Spock was taking a beating to protect Dream-Leonard. Knowing the Doctor as well as he did, this would assuredly hurt more than the whip would. It was also an accurate outcome were he given the choice.

He reached over and grabbed Dream-Leonard's shoulder, turning the doctor away from the sight before them and towards him. The tears running down his mate's face shook him, but he forced that away long enough to shake the man.

"T'hy'la, Wake Up! This is not real! Wake UP!" The blank gaze bore into his a moment before he was thrown out of the dream and found himself blinking next to his mate on their bed. Turning quickly to look at his mate, who was struggling with the sheet, he found himself startled when the human threw himself out of bed. Shaking slightly, Leonard stood at the corner of their bed and Spock watched as awareness slowly returned to those crystal eyes.

"Spock?" The weak question was enough for him to reach towards his mate and suddenly he had a human burrowing into his chest. __Spock! I'm Sorry! I couldn't stop him! I'm Sorry!__ _Spock held the man close and rocked them gently as his mother used to when he was young. He could tell that his T'hy'la was hysterical. Calling a tune on his lute his mate had commented on once to mind, he hummed it softly, letting the music relax the human in his arms._

Gradually, Leonard's shudders slowed and finally halted as his breathing ease. Spock was content to simply stay in this position though. It was comfortable and his mate was here, until shift change he saw little reason to move. I'm sorry I woke you, Spock He glanced down at the tired eyes and saw guilt and regret in them.

"You did not. I rolled onto my back." The doctor winced.

"Ouch, that'd wake me too." Spock felt a twinge of amusement and let himself feel the relief now spreading though him. If Leonard could joke, he'd be fine.

"It was a nightmare, Spock. Human's get them quite often. It wasn't my first, won't be my last." Leo pulled himself up slightly to rub noses.

"It seemed rather unpleasant." His mate's snort was expected.

"That's why it was a nightmare." Leonard glanced at him, "Spock, they happen when my conscious brain doesn't deal with something that my unconscious brain can't ignore. It's a natural psychological response to stress." Spock brushed wisps of hair off the pale forehead.

"It was not my intention to cause you pain." Leonard closed his eyes and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Spock's.

"I will survive." Spock felt reassurance floated through their bond and the thought that his mate was very good at their link flitted through is mind. "You should sleep, Spock. You had a long day."

"As did you, my mate." Spock lay back down, resting his head on his mate's shoulder.

"Than we should both get some sleep." Spock sighed and let his eyes droop as Leo's fingers ghosted over his arms and the relaxed feeling he had when first falling asleep returned. Sleep my love. You do so much for us, let yourself recover.  
Spock heard the quiet thought and just before he let go of consciousness he thought that entire phrase would have been more appropriate said by him to his mate.

To the…one…he…


End file.
